Healthy gums- Healthy teeth

Endodontics is a branch of dentistry that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of dental pulp infections and of the periapical tissue (from around the tooth’s root) infections.

Untreated decays in good time evolve towards the inside of the tooth, and the bacteria from the interior of the mouth reach the tooth’s nerve (dental pulp) causing its inflammation and, thus pain appears. The pain can be intense, or/and throbbing, and it can prevent the patient from sleeping or eating. The pain calms down when taking pain relievers (Algocalmin, Nurofen) and there is no need for antibiotics. The patient must visit the dentist for the creation and application of an appropriate treatment plan. If the tooth is left untreated at this stage, after a while its nerve spontaneously dies, decays and becomes infected, and the bacteria with their toxins advance towards the tissue on the top of the tooth and dental granuloma occurs (the so-called pus on top of the tooth)..

The tooth may remain at this stage without any symptoms for a long period of time. The patient feels no pain, maybe just halitosis. At a certain point, when either bacteria multiply and become more powerful or the body’s defense capacity falls (in case of a cold, sinusitis, a period of stress) the process worsens and intense pain occurs, accompanied by an abscess leading to the swelling of the face area near the tooth. Treatment at this stage is more difficult and also requires antibiotics.

The endodontic treatment consists of 3 parts

entodontie1

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of pulp inflammation and identification of the causes.
entodontie2

Tooth preparation

Cleaning and removing its content from the channels. The tooth is isolated from the rest of the mouth using a rubber dam (see photo), or it is prepared by hand or rotary instruments, and it is irrigated with disinfectants (hypochlorite of sodium, citric acid, chlorhexidine, EDTA).
entodontie3

Obturation phase

Inside the now sterilized tooth, a paste is introduced, which will hermetically seal the tooth from the mouth bacteria.

After the endodontic treatment is completed, the final obturation on the tooth crown must be finalized as soon as possible, within the first 10 days, in order to create a barrier against germs.

During the endodontic treatment, three radiographs are usually required: one at the beginning of the treatment, one during the treatment, and one at the end for the control of the root obturation.